Period control valve for plunger lift devices



Sept. 3, 1935. v c. N. SCQTT PERIOD CONTROL VALVE FOR PLUNGER LIFT DEVICES Filed Dec. 31, 1954 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 3, 1 935 7 z fllfifllll PERIOD CONTROL VALVE F011 PLUNGER LEFT DEVHCES Clarence N. Scott, Houston, Tex.

Application December 31, 1934, Serial No. 759,938

7 Claims. (Cl. 10352) My invention relates to plunger lift devices in in a cylinder l9 and held resiliently downward which pneumatic pressure, preferably gas presby a spring 20. sure is employed in raising liquid from Wells The cylinder l9 has a port below the piston to Where a plunger is employed to separate the liquid which is secured a pipe 25 which connects at its from the gas. other end with the port 26 in the flow head. 5 It is an object to provide an automatically- There is a check valve 22 in this line allowing operated valve which will accomplish a relief of pas age fluid frem the e the Cylinder.

well pressure in the casing at each stroke of the I provide a, yp areuhd t e Check Valve 2 plunger and thuseffectively take the pressures y y Of a, Smell P p 23 in Which is a-hand.

from the producing formation. I desire to allow p a ed C oke valve 2%. 10 the gas and liquid in th producing t t t The eduction tube 28 is secured at its upper end enter the Well freely after each cycle of operato flanged Supporting Coupling 9 which iS antions in pumping the ll s th t, th pores d chored in the coupling '2- in the casing and acts to interstices in the formatign may be kept, open 01038 the space between the eduction tllb and the 5 It is an object to provide a valve which will Casing at that p 5 open at the proper time to allow full use of the AbtJVe Cellplihg 29 i a perferated pp 30 well pressures to raise the plunger and its load of cfihnectihg the Eduction be With the tube eX- liquid and which will then close to allow a fur-- 1561151611 5 above described; The plunger s thus ther accumulation of fluid pressure in the well. anOWed t0 mOVe m the fluid- OU-tlet formed y 0 I also desire to provide means automaticall the perforations in the pp 2 operative to delay the falling of the plunger until The IOWeT Of e tube 23 is Connected to a the fluid pressure in the well has had time to ex housing 35 the p plate 32 W ch is held reh t through th flow 1jne siliently upwardly against a seat 33 by a spring In the drawing herewith Fig. 1 is a central lon- 35k gitudinal section through the upper portion of a spring 341 is supported upon a nipple 35 25- well installation embodying my invention. Coupling the ous fi with the tube 36 and 2 is Similar ct of the lower end of strainer 3'? through which the liquid and gas. may my apparatus, enter from the well.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of my control valve. At a point above the level of the 0'11 in the We Fig 4 is broken detail f relief o I connect in the flow tube a control valve. This 30 ployed on the Sleeve Valve member which I valve is preferably housed in an outer housing or p1oy barrel. 'As seen in Fig. 3, the section 39 of the The Well is Shown as equipped with a casing fiOW tube is threaded at both ends to accommodate 5 having an upper casing head 2 thereon Above nuts it and fiil between WhiCh iS clamped plugs said casing head is a fl head 3, secured to ii and i l slldable on the flow tube and threaded casing head by the bolt and flange connection 4. exteriorly to the housing The lower plug The flow head haS a lateral fluid Outlet port 5 has an inner annular recess t2 formed therein leading, to a separator or place of storage, not to which a plurality of ts in the flow tube shown 7 connect.

40 The upper end of the flow head is formed into The flow tube is also perforated at 44 to allow 40 an eduction tube extension 6 in which I may coninlet Opposlte these Openings the nect a gate valve l. The upper end of the exmg 33 1S perforated at tension is closed by a bushing 8 having a cap In the annular space it between the housing thereon and housing a tubular rubber shock ab and the fipw woe {sleeve valye M refzessed 45 sorber Hi. There is an outlet port l l at the upper deg-ply on Its upper pardon t9 recelve a spring fig 45 end of the p normally closed y a Valve i2 which normally holds the said valve downwardly Aplunger latch and its automatic control mechto close the openings and The upper end of spring 58 bears against a radial flange 49 on amim Secured up'on the flow h the flow tube. Said flange serves not only as a bolt 13 extended Into an Openmg i slde of stop for said spring but also constricts the pas 50 the flow head and has a Stem prolectmg sage of liquid and slows down the rate of movewei y through the Wall Of the housing t0 ment of the valve so as to prevent pounding of the connect at IE to a bell crank lever pivoted upon a valve in operation.

supp rt a The ut a f t l ver n- I furnish a relief valve in the lower end of the gages the d H p a piston l8 movable withsleeve valve member 41 to relieve any accumula- 55 tion of pressure fluid above the same. This valve is shown in Fig. 4 as a small ball check valve 55 held upwardly to close passage 52 by a spring Thus fluid above the valve may pass downwardly through the spring-receiving recess in the sleeve valve and find a vent through the passage 52 past valve 5|.

The plunger used with my device is of the usual construction. It has a tubular body member 56, fitting loosely within the flow tube. The interior passage 55 is tapered downwardly a'nd'has a valve seat 56 at its lower end, to receive the valve 5?.

Said valve has a stem 58 projecting downwardly through a support 59 and is adapted to engage the stop plate 3'2 when the plunger reaches the lower limit of its stroke.

To economize in the amount of gas used, I may place the packer 66 between the flow tube and the casing at some point above the control valve. This packer serves to confine the gas from the well to the chamber in the casing about the lower end of the tube and conserves the gas to that space.

In the operation of my device the plunger falls with the valve open, through the liquid above the stop plate 32 and'the valve is closed by contact of the stem 53 with said plate. Gas confined in the casing then builds up sufficient pressure to depress the liquid level until finally the gas may enter through the perforation in the strainer 3'1 and attain sufficient force to raise the plunger with its load of liquid upwardly in the tube.

As the plunger passes the ports 43 below my control valve, the gas pressure will enter through said ports below the sleeve valve ll and move it upwardly to expose the openings 4d and 15 and allow free entry of gas in the casing to the flow tube below the plunger. This will accelerate the movement of the plunger.

When the plunger reaches the top of the tubing the load of liquid will have been discharged through the openings in the nipple 30 and the outlet line 5 and the plunger will be moved upwardly into the closed upper end of the flow tube where the valve will be forced open. The latch l3 will then engage below the plunger and hold it from dropping. The gas will exhaust from behind the plunger and relieve the pressure in the tube and casing so as to allow a surge of liquid and gas from the producing formation into the well. The openings 64 and d5 allow gas in the casing to pass up the tube and the well pressure is quickly reduced to approximately atmosphere and may be even lower.

The fluid pressure in the flow head as the plunger approaches the upper end of the tube will be sufficient to force the piston I 3 in the cylinder it upwardly so as to permit the latch to be moved to plunger-engaging position by the spring behind it. As the fluid pressure in the well head is relieved, however, the fluid below the piston l8 will gradually exhaust through the choke valve 24 and bypass 23 to the flow head and allow the piston 58 to be moved to position'to release the latch i3 and allow the plunger to drop. By the proper regulation of the choke valve 2 3, this release of the plunger may be timed to suit conditions existing in the well, so that the plunger will not reach bottom until the proper level of liquid has been reached by the fresh inrush of fluid.

When the fluid pressure in the well was relieved after the discharge of the load of liquid, the spring 43 above the sleeve valve 4? was able to close that valve against the slight pressure of the fluid through ports 43. When the plunger drops to bottom, therefore, the device is ready for another cycle of operations.

The control valve dl enables the operator to obtain better lifting effect of his available gas from the well and also permits the rapid and complete exhaust of well pressure so that there will be a reversal of pressures upon the formation to enable the fluid to freay enter th well. This reversal of pressures within the pores and interstices of the formation tends to prevent clogging thereof and keeps them open so that production may continue for comparatively long periods or until the production is exhausted.

The valve is of simple construction and may be easily and economically installed upon any common type of plunger lift device.

What I claim as new is:

1. A plunger lift device for wells including an eduction tube, a fluid outlet at its upper end, a plunger freely movable therein from the lower to the upper end thereof, means to conflne gas in the welloutside said tube, a control device on said tube above normal liquid level in the well, said device including an outer housing on said tube and concentric therewith, said tube and housing having perforations, a sleeve valve between said tube and housing and acting normally to close said perforations, said valve acting automatically in response to fluid pressure in said tube to open and allow gas to pass lrom said casing to said tube.

2. A plunger lift device for wells including an eduction tube, a fluid outlet at its upper end, a plunger freely movable therein from the lower to the upper end thereof, means to confine gas in the well outside said tube, a control device on said tube above normal liquid level in the well, said device including an outer housing on said tube and concentric therewith, said tube and housing having perforations, a sleeve valve between said tube and housing and acting normally to close said perforations, inlet ports from said tubing to said housing below said valve whereby a predetermined pressure of fluid in said tube will pass said ports and open said valve.

3. A plunger lift device for wells including an eduction tube, a fluid outlet at its upper end, a plunger freely movable therein from the lower to the upper end thereof, means to confine gas in the Well outside said tube, a control device on said tube above normal liquid level in the well, said device including an outer housing on said tube and concentric therewith, said tube and housing having perforations, a sleeve valve between said tube and housing and acting normally to close said perforations, inlet ports from said tubing to said housing belowsaid valve, said valve acting in response to fluid pressure after said plunger has moved upwardly past said ports to open said perforations and permit passage of fluid to said tube from the well.

4. A control valve for eduction tubes of the character described including a housing outside said tube and closed at its upper and lower ends, a valve sleeve between said housing and said tube, said sleeve and tube having opposed perforations therein, a spring acting to normally hold said sleeve in position to close perforations in said sleeve and tube, there being ports from said tube to said housing below said valve.

5. An eduction tube for wells having a fluid inlet at its lower end and a fluid outlet at its upper end, a plunger movable in said tube, means to confine fluid pressure in said well outside said tube, in combination with a control valve slidable on the outer side of said tube, means to normally hold said valve in position to close inlet openings in said tube above the normal liquid level in the well, said valve being moved to open said inlet openings by fluid pressure from said tube.

6. An eduction tube for wells having a fluid inlet at its lower end and a fluid outlet at its upper end, a plunger movable in said tube, means to confine fluid pressure in said well outside said tube, in combination with a control valve slidable on the outer side of said tube, means to normally hold said valve in position to close inlet openings in said tube above the normal liquid level in the well, and fluid-pressure operated means to open said valve to expose said inlet openings when said plunger has passed upwardly past said valve.

7. An eduotion tube for wells having an inlet and an outlet at its lower and upper ends respectively, a freely movable plunger in said tube, means to confine pressure fluid in said well outside said tube, a valve on said tube above the liquid level normally closing openings in said tube, said valve being moved to open position by 10 fluid pressure from said tube.

CLARENCE N. SCOTT. 

